The Legal Studies classroom has been a really vibrant learning environment lately. We have played host to a couple of fascinating presenters who have entertained us with amazing stories of their career experiences.
Bek Fraser is a Corrections Officer at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne, the main women’s prison in Victoria. She spoke of her wide ranging responsibilities, from full ‘cavity’ searches, through working in the psychology section of the prison, to the industry and work division, even doing her time supervising ‘the slot’ which is like an isolation cell, also called a ‘wet cell’. Bek informed the students she was formerly a dental nurse but decided on a career change (certainly a contrasting one) and now loves her work far more than anticipated. She came in ‘kitted up’ in uniform and we all found her oratory quite compelling.
Darren Dean, a plain clothes criminal investigator with the Echuca Police, also made an engaging presentation to the students, focussing on a road rage shooting incident some years ago, which involved a ‘who’s who’ of the ‘Underbelly Carlton Crew’ including Carl Williams, Rocco Arico, Dino Dibra and Vince Gangitano. Darren told us he led the investigation from start to finish and shared the investigative process with the group which was incredibly interesting, if just a little gruesome, with shots of the impact of bullets on the body(alive I am pleased to report) amongst the many pieces of evidence gathered. The role of the forensic crime scene investigators was also explained.
We are ever grateful to people such as Bek and Darren who give up their valuable spare time to enrich the learning experiences of our students. We are already looking forward to more such immersions into the criminal justice system in the future.
